Surveyor to map out UTA's acreage

DRAPER (Deseret News) — The Utah Transit Authority and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands are hiring a surveyor to determine who owns a portion of land on which a UTA contractor has dumped topsoil.

The property in dispute is near 12800 South and the Jordan River. As UTA builds the FrontRunner South Commuter Rail line from Salt Lake City to Provo, a contractor has put footing and preparations for a future station platform that will be built as population demands.

UTA maintains the property in question belongs to the transit agency.

But environmentalists believe it is state-owned land. Utah Open Lands informed Forestry, Fire and State Lands of its concerns about UTA's activity on the property. The division's executive director, Richard Buehler, sent UTA a letter Feb. 18, said Jason Curry, division spokesman.

On Thursday, UTA and division officials met, discussed the issue and decided to hire a surveyor, who will establish the exact location of a property line through measurements and legal descriptions, Curry said.

"The bottom line is at the end of the meeting, they agreed to flag it off, their contractors are instructed not to do anything across that line until they figure it out through a survey," Curry said.